Buying - not sure which route to go down

DD265

I have to change car by April for car allowance purposes - new car must be under 10 years old. Car allowance is £450 a month (before tax/student loan etc). Currently have an '05 Golf, running fine, big maintenance jobs done this year, would happily keep it if not for the 'rule'. I'm not in the position I wanted to be, in that I don't have the cash to buy a young enough car outright. We bought a house so that consumed all my savings, and I'd stupidly forgotten that I'd been given a grace period over the age, with the limit kicking in this year.

Issue 1 is how to finance a car. This is what I currently have:
£1500 cash (Can add to this at £250 a month now)
£1500ish value to the Golf (MOT due April, not expecting any big issues, can MOT before sale)
£10,000 available on a credit card (26 months interest free potentially, would need to speak to MBNA - preapproved for the deal, but the £10k is an existing card)

My cap for finance - or car-related credit card repayments - is £350 a month. My concern with the credit card route, is that I'd just finish paying off a car and I'd have to replace it again - within an £8k budget (don't want to max out) I've not got much leeway on age. I've worked very hard over the past 12 months to pay off my credit card debt and I'm almost at the finish line, so I'm very reluctant to add to it again. But debt is debt...

In terms of the car we're after, I'm a bit stuck here too. We want (but don't yet have) a big dog - think German Shepherd size. We may or may not have kids; very unlikely in next 2 years as still work to do on finances obviously, but if we do, probably within 5. We definitely want an automatic and built in bluetooth audio. Ground clearance is a bit of an issue as the drive has a hump, but can just about navigate it in the Golf. We thought about keeping the Golf, but my husband is a new (passed last month) driver and the insurance might be prohibitive. We don't need two cars. I'm swinging between thinking cheap and small short term, vs 'future proofing' getting an SUV now.

I don't know whether to:
1. Keep the Golf (either rejecting car allowance, or doing option 2)
2. Go cheap and small for 2 years, save for the next car - if I do this, I think leasing will work out to lower repayments than the credit card route. The hypothetical dog can go on the back seat.
3. 'Future proof' by getting an SUV now on lease, accepting I'm back into the car finance cycle but that's what the car allowance is for. About the £230-250 mark from the looks of things.
4. Buy an older SUV on the credit card and overpay as much as I can so I hopefully have time to save for the replacement in better time

Thoughts?

FtbDreaming

I’d go for option 2... putting it on credit card kind of rules out any possible gains from the allowance. Also i think your budget is way too big. Id be looking at 6 year old car for £5000 or less.

Richard53

I was returning to the car in some woods near to me after walking the dog. Another guy was returning with a German Shepherd and a really big Labrador. I wondered what roomy, practical vehicle he would be getting into. It was a Mazda MX-5.


Just saying you don't need a huge car for dogs. An estate car is convenient, but the dogs don't seem to care either way.

Mercdriver

I'd also go estate over SUV for dogs, especially large dogs who may have hip problems in their later years.

Nebulous2

I’d agree with an estate car. I was going to suggest a Dacia Logan, they’re very cheap and they do decent finance deals, but they don’t come in automatic.

Alternatively something like an Octavia estate, built on the same platform as a golf. Or a Mondeo estate, plentiful and economical to run.

AdrianC

Richard53 wrote: »

I was returning to the car in some woods near to me after walking the dog. Another guy was returning with a German Shepherd and a really big Labrador. I wondered what roomy, practical vehicle he would be getting into. It was a Mazda MX-5.

I take it the roof was down...?

Cisco001

I would go for option 4.
Probably a 5 - 6 years old estate/ SUV/ MPV within £8k budget

Scrapit

1500 quid deposit and 350 per month would get you something half decent on HP etc. And if you up you would own it outright at the end of the term.

DD265

Possibly a stupid question about estates. We're making an assumption that it would be more difficult to navigate the hump in the drive - I have bottomed the Golf more times than I care to admit - as I wouldn't expect much better ground clearance and a longer wheelbase. The hump gets the middle of the car, on the left sill. The driveway has a dropped kerb for access but the pavement goes up to 'normal height' before dropping sharply down the hill. We are hoping to get something done about it, just not sure what's involved - that's for another thread. Ultimately, this is why we were looking at SUVs.

Looking at Autotrader for SUV/estate with a £6k budget, automatic, 4 seats/5 doors, reg 2015 or later, mostly Astra estates. £6k is definitely low enough budget. All would be considered high mileage, but with a 135k Golf, that doesn't bother me as long as maintenance has been kept up with. I've no firsthand experience of Vauxhalls - good/bad/indifferent? If I credit-carded one of these, it'd be paid off in about a year, then in theory I'd have 3-4 years out of it to save up for the next one. If I look at hatchbacks there's a Nissan Note which could fit the bill - used to have one, but VT'd it back in 2017. Husband would like the higher driving position in that.

Would expect higher maintenance costs than brand new but I'd also have the benefit of not being tied into car payments if/when I was on maternity - or the flexibility to change car after 12 months if needed. Appreciate if I get myself into a lease there's no getting out of it.

Scrapit wrote: »

1500 quid deposit and 350 per month would get you something half decent on HP etc. And if you up you would own it outright at the end of the term.

Were you thinking over a longer term than 2 years?

Richard53

AdrianC wrote: »

I take it the roof was down...?

Nope. It was a rainy horrible day and the hood was firmly up. I asked him how it worked, and he said the dogs negotiated with each other between lying in the footwell and sitting on the passenger seat. It was cosy, to say the least, but the dogs seemed quite happy. The windows were pretty steamed up, though


Mk 3, if it matters

F1F93

Some manufacturers did "off road" versions of their estates, usually with 4 wheel drive, a slightly raised ride height and chunkier protective plastic or rubber parts on the bumpers. These would give you the benefits of the estate and likely wouldnt bottom out like the golf.

Check out the skoda octavia scout or vw passat all track.